Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure the Cardiovascular disease modern service framework, published on 7 July 2026, reduces inequalities in the detection of atrial fibrillation across (a) deprived and (b) under-served communities.

The Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) sets out 12 immediate priorities for the next three years. This includes systematically identifying risk factors such as atrial fibrillation. For each of the priority actions, the CVD MSF brings together national standards, key metrics, and delivery ambitions over three- and ten-year horizons, to drive improvement and reduce inequalities across the country.

The CVD MSF sets out seven evidence-based principles of equitable implementation to guide local systems to deliver the 12 priorities, taking into account any specific inequalities and challenges faced by their local communities. They are intended to drive improvement that is deliberately focused on areas with the poorest performance, thereby supporting targeted action to close the gap.